Friends with benefits?
by TheBlueBomberBoomer
Summary: When buttercup decides to move out, she finds herself in need of money. And decides to take up bounty monster hunting, with the help of boomer. Her friend with benefits, will their relationship become more though? And how will this work out for them? Contains Buttercup X Boomer, also contains Implied sex. Please Review.
1. Pent up

**Authors Note: Hello all, I hope you enjoy the first chapter to my new fic. I don't know whether or not to continue it yet, let me know what you think!**

It was a chilly autumn afternoon in the city of Townsville. The city was quite active today as usual, but the weather was supposed to change to a harsh winter soon. Weather stations were all reporting snow to fall any day now. Inside one of the rooms at a specific home, a teenage girl sat at her desk in her room, looking at a newspaper. She was wearing a green sweater that had black stars in various sizes across it. She also had short raven black hair that reached her shoulders in length. She was Buttercup, the tougher one of a trio of famous heroes known as the Powerpuff Girls, super powered girls who were created by accident a long time ago. Buttercup's room looked a little untidy. A small bed was set up against the wall by the window with a few posters scattered on the wall. A desk was also set across from the wall. Their father had decided the triplets needed separate rooms a few years ago for their own privacy.

"Why does this bother me so much worse than the others?" Buttercup asked herself. The newspaper article she was looking at showed her standing alongside her sisters, though the newspaper was two months old.

"Powerpuff Girls save innocent lives from burning apartment," the headline read. It seemed like a normal day saving lives. Buttercup sighed, sitting down the paper, leaning back in her chair. There was no such thing as a completely safe mission, as their leader put it, but Buttercup knew that they couldn't save everyone. That apartment fire back then really engraved that into her memory, more than anything. Buttercup's train of thought, though, was interrupted by a knocking at the door.

"It's unlocked," Buttercup said, while resting the newspaper subtly underneath some of her books. She saw the door open, revealing her sister, a girl with very long orange hair and a red bow tied on her hair. She was wearing a pink coat that had black flower petals on it in random patterns.

"Hey, Buttercup. You forgot to meet us for lunch," she greeted happily. She was Blossom, the self-proclaimed leader of the Powerpuff Girls. She was pretty smart, all things considered, and as result was the tactician when the three needed planning for fights. Blossom was holding a small take out box. She rested it on the desk in front of her sister.

"I didn't forget," Buttercup retorted, realizing by reading her alarm clock that was about two in the afternoon. She opened the small box, seeing a hot dog resting in it with French fries and ketchup beside it. She didn't waste any time beginning to eat. Blossom didn't know how to interpret their sister brushing off their plans. It either meant she was having a really bad day or had better plans in mind. Blossom took a seat on the bed.

"Are you okay?" Blossom decided to cut to the main question, her pink eyes expressing her concern of the situation. Buttercup swallowed another mouthful of fries. She didn't mean to worry their leader, but when she was depressed or distracted, she acted that way without noticing herself, though she for one hated having others worry about her constantly.

"I had some nightmares last night… that's it," Buttercup somewhat lied that her sleep schedule was damaged which led to her acting weird. But her sister saw through the lie very easily.

"Even if you were sleep deprived, your daily nap schedule would keep you more than energized," Blossom joked, trying to lighten the tone of the conversation a little. She hated when buttercup tried to shut her out, and whenever that happened, only one of two things happened. They either fought or they ignored each other for quite a while. Occasionally, it was both.

"Haha, real funny," Buttercup sarcastically retorted, caring more about the food right now.

"Buttercup, I'm not talking to you like a leader. I'm trying to be helpful as a sister. I hate seeing you like this, and the professor gets worried, too," Blossom pressed further. She tried to enter this conversation calmly, however her black haired sister didn't agree with that.

"Really? The last time we tried and talked about one of my problems, you brushed me off and talked about battle plans for giant monsters. I could really care less about what you think, when you care more about the town than your own family," Buttercup explained angrily what she really thought about her sibling's emotional state. Blossom was taken aback by this.

"Wha? I… these plans are made to protect everyone equally! I don't know why you hate me, but frankly, I hate the way you act and your attitude! I wish you'd just move out!" Blossom responded before storming off out the door, slamming it shut behind her. Buttercup didn't care much for any of her words, beyond the ending of the sentence. Midway through another chomp of her food, she hatched a little idea, reaching down and pulling out her cellphone. She dialed someone close to her on the phone, waiting for the ringing to be answered.

"Hello?" a boy's voice chimed. Buttercup got a devious smile.

"Hi there, Boomer, what's up?" the green powerpuff greeted. He was Boomer, the not so bright one of the puffs' rival group, the Rowdyruff Boys, who were created to counter them in every sense. The puffs had thankfully fought them off a lot over the years. However, Buttercup had a secret relation with the blue ruff.

"Oh hi, BC! It's going great. I got to help dad make an invention. What's going on for you?" Boomer sounded joyful to hear the green puff's voice. She stood up from her chair and went over to the window, seeing the slowly setting sun.

"Well, Boomy, I'm feeling a little pent up again. Care to come over and hang out tonight?" Buttercup offered.

"Yeah! I'll be over at the usual time," the blue ruff accepted. It was almost as if Buttercup could hear his mental excitement over this. He then hung up after that. Buttercup smirked as she put her own phone away. She and Boomer had started meeting up occasionally about a year ago. It was a bond described only as friends with benefits. When they both felt as if they needed help relieving stress, she enjoyed each experience better than the last. She stretched, looking forward to tonight, already mentally pondering her orange haired sister's words.

"Maybe Blossom's advice isn't all that bad."


	2. Nightmare

It was around four in the morning in the Utonium household. Buttercup was lying in her bed, somewhat awake, having only really gotten a couple hours of sleep thus far. She wasn't alone, however. Beside her in her bed was a boy her age. His blonde hair was quite messy, and he looked really relaxed, but not too rested either. He was the Boomer, the same boy Buttercup spoke to on phone earlier in the afternoon. Their clothes were scattered around the room, the only light being from the crescent moon that shined through the window. The green puff felt his hand brush against her arm.

"Are you alright? You seemed more distracted than anything," Boomer asked. The two's friends with benefits relationship had been going strong for quite some time, though they had nothing but plans to keep it secret for now.

"Huh? …yeah, you see… I was thinking about moving out. Blossom gave me the idea in a fight," Buttercup explained. They both were keeping quiet. She didn't know why, but she felt guilty about having to sneak the blue ruff into her room. She saw his smile on his face.

"Fighting sometimes is the best way to think. Though I like to avoid getting more scars," he joked. He looked relatively well for the amount of abuse he had taken from the puffs. Usually whenever they fought, Buttercup and Boomer feigned attacks to each other, pretending to be more harmful than they actually were. The most prominent injury was a small scar on his back, which was caused by one of their older fights before they became like this. It was kind of a good memory, despite the scar that hurt badly.

"I don't plan on letting my family know about moving. Not yet, anyway," the raven haired girl stated while getting closer to him. The blonde ruff mentally wondered what she meant by that comment, but he wouldn't mind helping her move if he had to. Their super strength made it a lot easier to get furniture around.

"You know, Buttercup… every time we do this, I get worried that when I wake up, it will have been a big dream and I'll have just banged my head horribly," Boomer admitted, finding it amazing how their sexual escapades felt almost like a dream. She rolled her eyes, not sure how to respond to that. She was explicit from day one that this was to relieve themselves when needed, though Buttercup got a small blush, remembering their first time, which they could only describe as awkward, embarrassing and painful.

"You fantasize about me often?" Buttercup grinned before feeling Boomer's lips press against hers briefly before parting.

"Yeah, I do a lot. So do you want me to help you move?" he gladly offered, seeing her get out of bed to begin getting redressed. Boomer sighed, knowing he had to go soon, wishing for once he could stay longer than a few hours a night. He always had to sneak in through the window. It was a little irritating, but worth it.

"Yeah, thanks. I just need to look for a good apartment," Buttercup accepted his help, seeing him slip on his blue hooded coat that had black musical notes of various types on it, though she left out the detail of a job employment. She did have a lot of areas in mind she could sign up for, though she hoped it wouldn't be hard to get one.

"No problem. When do you wanna meet up again?" Boomer queried while approaching her, after she slipped on her pajamas once again. She opened the window widely so he could go through it.

"No clue. You know how easily I get pent up," Buttercup answered before giving him one last kiss. Boomer smiled back to her.

"Goodnight, BC," he bid her goodnight, and then he flew out the window, leaving a dark blue trail of light behind him as he left. The green puff closed the window back and locked it shut. She sat down on her bed, rubbing her head. Buttercup didn't tell him though, that she didn't want to let her family know where she was moving to, when and if she found a new home to go to. She laid back down, resting her head on her pillow, thinking about how all she wanted was peace and quiet for one day. No hotline ringing, no fighting monsters, no fighting with her family, nothing. The green puff began to drift back to sleep. She was too tired, yet she had a lot to do tomorrow.

"Help!" Buttercup heard as her eyes were quickly opened, wondering where she was. She found herself in a hallway that was surrounded by great blazes of fire. She could see a few firefighters who were breaking doors down, trying to help people, though that one scream echoed that caught her attention the most. It was loudly coming from one of the next rooms far down the hall. The fire fighters had no chance of getting to there. She decided to go straight for it, ignoring the flames crackling around her.

Buttercup saw no intact door. The fire had made quick work of the wooden material, though the room in general looked to be ravaged. Any piece of furniture was nearly all reduced to ashes, and the wallpaper was peeling though in the middle of the room. A huge hole was gaping in the floor. The raven haired powerpuff looked down, seeing someone down there. She knew that was where the voice came from.

"Hang on!" Buttercup called out, jumping right down, aware that the fire had damaged the floor and probably made it weak enough to collapse. She was planning to just grab the man and fly him out, though when she got close, the green puff's rush of hurry came to a halt.

"Pl…please," the man coughed. He had the great misfortune of being impaled on an exposed piece of rebar that had come from the damaged floor. This fire had done a lot to the entire apartment complex. The rebar was piercing into his back, and through the left side of his chest. It was gruesome to see, even for Buttercup.

"H-hang on, help will be here soon!" Buttercup tried to assure. There was nothing she could do on this matter. She didn't want to kill the man by just ripping him off the rebar, but at the rate the fire was burning, there seemed to be a good chance the rest of the man's apartment would collapse on them both. She saw him hold something in his hand. It looked like a pocket watch.

"Gi…give it to my son… Jimmy Calhoun… please," the man coughed. She saw blood coming out from his mouth. Buttercup took the pocket watch, trying to make sure he stayed awake.

"Don't give up! Help's not far!" she assured, until a loud creaking was heard, seeing her worst fear at that moment in time. The ceiling above them began to collapse down on top of them both, blazing with great fury.

"Ah!" Buttercup gasped, sitting up suddenly from her nightmare, panting. She was sweating, that all too familiar feeling welling in her heart. She saw on her alarm clock which read 7am now. She sighed, pulling her knees up to her chest and burying her face. She tried to forget the nightmare of a memory, but it felt too exact to the real situation itself.

"I'm a failure…"


	3. Work

It was still early in the morning. Buttercup had gotten over that nightmare that had woke her badly, the nightmare that she immensely hated. All that did was remind her of one failed mission. At least to her it was a failure. She was at the family computer that was set up in the living room, for everyone to use to their own liking. She was looking over possible jobs. She had found an apartment she liked, however it was in the east side of town. That entire area was more of a business district to begin with, but the raven haired girl didn't mind.

"Good morning, Buttercup," she heard, looking behind her to see a tall man in a lab coat who had black hair with some noticeable grey to the sides of it. He was Professor Utonium, her father and a smart inventor in Townsville. He was probably the very person Buttercup cared for the most in her life.

"Oh, good morning, professor," Buttercup returned his greetings, seeing him smile while he looked at the job opportunities on the computer monitor.

"You're trying to find a job?" he quirked with a hint of surprise to his voice. She hadn't shown any interest in getting any form of work. He didn't expect any of his children to begin looking for jobs for at least a year or two. But he was happy, even if it was unexpected, that she will be the first to get a full time job. Blossom had a part time job about three days of the week.

"Yeah. I need the extra money," Buttercup lied. She didn't want to hurt his feelings by telling him she was planning to move out, not yet anyway. She could never do that to the professor. She felt his hand brush her raven hair. He looked very proud right now.

"It's great that you're looking for work. If you need any help, just ask," the professor assured, seeing a smile show on her. She gave him a quick hug before she let him head off to get to his laboratory to continue working on his inventions. Buttercup hit a button on the keyboard, watching it print out her job listings.

"Well, here I go," she sighed to herself, hoping this would be easy. Most of the job listings involved more manual labour, so she doubted her status as the town superhero would matter much when talking to the employers. She left her house to start checking out each job offering.

Meanwhile, Boomer was lying on the couch, resting due to the little sleep he got last night. He lived with his father, Mojo Jojo, an evil super genius of a monkey who long despised the Powerpuff Girls, though he had gotten his own fair share of heavy beatings from trying to attack them and the city.

"Hey, you awake?" he heard. He sighed, opening one eye to see one of his brothers, a boy who sported a red cap and had long messy orange hair. He also was wearing a red coat that had black flames on random patterns of it. He was Brick, the leader of the Rowdyruff Boys, though lately they had been trying to relax more due to their other brother breaking his leg.

"If I said no, would you go away?" Boomer asked, receiving a playful punch in the arm.

"You've had enough time to sleep. I don't want you to get lazy. It's your turn to go get some scrap metal from the junkyard," Brick explained. His sibling showed an unamused gaze.

"You kidding? I did it last time!" the blue ruff argued.

"Yeah, well like I said, I don't want you to get lazy," Brick smirked before walking away. The blonde boy sighed, not having the energy to fight. Every now and then, one of the Rowdyruffs would have to go gather the metal that their father used on robots or inventions, most of which would get destroyed and then tossed back into the same scrapyard where they got the metal from. It was a little bit of a dumb system with the most minimal thought, though they didn't care, since it was something to do. Boomer got up, stretching.

"Guess I have to do all the work," he sighed before flying off to get to the scrapyard so he could steal the usual heavy amount of metal. He barely began his flight before starting to realize something outside. Small flakes of snow were beginning to come down. He was happy to see the start of snow, wondering how much of the snow would fall today. His thoughts trailed off however during the nice flight.

"I wonder if Buttercup likes snow?" he asked himself, but then immediately began to wonder why he had been thinking of her so much lately. He loved every moment the two spent together, even if it was usually without clothes. Boomer couldn't mentally deny that he felt really close to the green Powerpuff, though he wanted to get even closer with her. Boomer wasn't oblivious to her, either. She was more relaxed around him, and more open to him. He couldn't help his own feelings. He tried to think less on the matter. If she wanted a relationship founded on more than just friendly sex, she would be the one to advance that matter. All of those thoughts swirled around Boomer's mind for a moment before he arrived to the scrapyard.

"Butch's leg better heal soon, so Brick can make him do all the work," Boomer said while beginning his work. He threw one big piece of metal on top of another to try and make a pile to carry back home. Soon enough, he heard his cellphone ring. He pulled it out of his pocket, smiling upon realizing the caller's ID.

"Hey, BC, what's up?" Boomer answered, glad to respond to the call whenever that all too familiar Powerpuff girl called, though he hoped it wasn't another pent up call. He was still drained from last night's sessions.

"Hey Boomer, I've got good news," Buttercup started. She sounded so delighted. He loved hearing her when she was joyful.

"Really? What is it?" he insisted for her not to keep him waiting.

"I got approved for a job. You're helping me move tomorrow."


	4. Moving

Just as planned, the next day when all of Buttercup's family had gone out, Boomer was over at the Utonium household, helping his friend with benefits get her things packed. Buttercup's room looked a lot cleaner than ever. A few boxes were packed, every poster on the wall removed and the bed now dismantled.

"Thanks again for all the help," the green powerpuff claimed, seeing the blue rowdyruff helping fill another box with the contents of her closet.

"You're hard to say no to," Boomer smirked, taping the box shut. She seemed so happy right now. It was hard for him not to feel similar in mood. He saw a newspaper on the desk that she planned to leave behind, picking it up. It was that all too familiar article she would look at often. He never understood why though.

"I guess I forgot to throw that away," Buttercup lied while taking the newspaper. She wanted to get rid of it for so long, but the nightmares and the reminder of the failure of the mission always tugged at her heart. She set it aside before looking at her window, peering to the snow that was continuing to fall with no sign of stopping anytime soon.

"And you really don't want to tell your family?" he asked trying to change the topic since clearly that newspaper struck a nerve in her, even if her attempts to hide that failed. Buttercup shook her head.

"I don't want to tell them where I'm going. I don't plan on ignoring the hero life either. I just want to be able to come home knowing I won't wind up in a fight or hearing the hotline ring right when I sit down… not to mention I'll then have a certain someone be able to stay longer than four hours," Buttercup explained. Her fingers running along his chest. He put his hands on her sides, pulling her closer before he kissed her soft lips, as if it was a mix of congratulations and his own internal joy at that fact.

"Do you remember how we started doing this?" Buttercup wondered. He closed his eyes, as if it was a little too awkward to recall.

"I do. You were having one of the worst days of your life, and when dad sent out a robot, you didn't even let it smash two buildings before ripping its head clean off," Boomer started the memory of their past on what started this relationship. Buttercup wrapped her arms around him, embracing him in a hug. She surely enjoyed the memory a lot more than he did.

"And your dad got mad so he sent you three to try and beat me up. I remember being amazed you were able to not black out when I smashed you through that bridge into the underground tunnel," she continued. They knew each other quite well from that fateful day. Boomer sighed at the memory that wasn't too good for him. After all, that was how he got the scar on his body. She had been so angry that day that she wound up defeating all three of the rowdyruff boys on her own.

"I was too weak to do anything, and the next thing I know you're breaking down and crying, like someone took every last drop of control you had, so I carried you home and we started talking." He enjoyed feeling her hug, as he caressed her cheek seeing a blush envelop her face.

"Minutes turned into hours. We talked, and talked, and talked, and we realized we both were pent up and needed to relax," Boomer continued the story, reaching the ending of it, just before feeling her peck his neck with a kiss of her own.

"Your reaction to me saying lets have sex was hilarious," Buttercup giggled. That horrible day had been turned into a completely great one, all because of a few hours she spent with Boomer, though the wonderful moment of memory was broken as they heard footsteps.

"I thought you said no one's going to be home til this afternoon!" Boomer gulped in fear. Buttercup rolled her eyes. He was only afraid because if Blossom found the two together like this, there would be nothing but trouble. They didn't want to imagine how her siblings would react.

"Buttercup?" a soft voice chimed against their ears. They could see a blonde haired girl, whose hair was done up into two pigtails. She was wearing a thicker sweater that had black circles on it in random areas. She was Bubbles the sweeter of the powerpuff girls. She was a nice girl who abides to every rule, and liked to avoid conflict if she could, but she was just as tough as her sisters.

"Bubbles, I thought you were going to be at a friend's," Buttercup greeted her sister, she and boomer having broken apart after hearing the footsteps alone. The blonde puff was looking confused.

"They were busy, so I came home to clean up a bit," Bubbles answered while examining the room, quickly noticing the vast difference to it.

"What happened to your room? Are you redecorating?" she inquired. She didn't seem to mind Boomer's presence, as if she already had seen him at their home a lot before. It weirded him out, but he didn't complain, trying his best to relax.

"Um… no. I'm packing… because I'm moving," Buttercup admitted. She really had no other reasonable choice than to tell Bubbles the truth. She saw that confused look on Bubbles face form into a sad one.

"Oh… you're moving in with Boomer?" Bubbles quirked, a little surprised at the thought, seeing her blue counterpart's blush.

"No, he's helping me move to my new home," the green powerpuff tried to explain. She didn't want to be mean right now. She loved Bubbles, after all, but the only person in her family she really didn't get along with was Blossom.

"Yeah. She needed another set of hands helping. Why else would I be doing this?" Boomer added to her lie.

"I figured it was because you two have sex a lot," Bubbles responded, seeing them both gain startled expressions.

"H-how do you know about that?!" Buttercup stammered. She felt mixed between embarrassed for being caught and surprise that Bubbles was so straight forward on the topic. Boomer was keeping his mouth shut, not wanting to make his green lover mad.

"Err, about a month ago when the professor and Blossom went to that gathering. I was too sick to go and I saw Boomer sneaking in through the window, so I came to check up on you…" Bubbles explained, seeming more sheepish the further she went into the topic.

"You two are… really rough in bed," the blue puff finished, apparently it was an accident of an unexpected extra person being at home.

"You knew this entire time?" Boomer had to ask, a little impressed at how well she handled it.

"Yes. I just thought it'd be best if I pretended not to know. You made her happy, Boomer. Why should I try to stop you?" Bubbles' innocent explanation continued. She didn't want to get in the way of her raven haired sister's joy. If Boomer made her happy, then she was happy.

"Wow… thanks, Bubbles. You're the best," Buttercup squeezed her sister tight.

"I'm going to miss you a lot," Bubbles sniffled, starting to feel emotional at the thought of her sister leaving their home and not returning, though she did mentally question the attempted secrecy of the move.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure to stay in touch, sis," Buttercup reassured that this wouldn't be the last time that her blue sister heard from her. Boomer looked at the complete collection boxes that they had to transport to the apartment.

"We should go, BC, it's starting to get windy," Boomer exclaimed, seeing the trees outside being blown by the wind. He didn't want to go flying through a violent blizzard. Buttercup nodded, and she quickly got a piece of pen and paper, writing down the address of her new apartment, handing it over to Bubbles.

"It's our secret, Bubbles. You come visit anytime you want," the girl in green stated, Bubbles rubbing her eye and nodding in answer. She watched the two begin their leave, the room feeling a lot emptier. The blonde girl looked down at the note, wondering how her family would react to their sister departing. She was glad to know that Buttercup had someone watching over her. Boomer was strong and reliable, she knew that, even if he had a lacking IQ.

"I hope they stay happy…"


	5. Admittance

It had been about a month since Boomer had helped Buttercup move out of her house and into her own apartment. Winter had officially come, the sheet of snow laying all of Townsville. Today, the blue rowdyruff was walking along the sidewalk with a scarf on, wearing it in a way that it covered his mouth and nose. Amazingly it was a good enough disguise to fool the townsfolk, though he always knew that a lot of the citizens of Townsville were not exactly the brightest. Boomer was carrying a small box in his right hand. He had been doing a lot of thinking this last week about advancing his and Buttercup's relationship. Tonight, he wanted to talk to her. He was arriving to an apartment complex that had three floors to it. Boomer climbed the staircase to the third floor and went to the door that was marked 3A. He knocked, and waited patiently until he heard the door unlock and open.

"Hey there, Boomer. I wasn't expecting you," Buttercup greeted him happily, not minding the surprise guest. Boomer took his scarf off as she let him come inside. Here he saw the living room of her apartment. There wasn't much to it beyond a coffee table and one long couch. She had been saving to buy each piece of furniture individually. She didn't have a television, though she had a laptop setup on the coffee table that could provide the same amount of entertainment.

"I figured I'd pay a surprise visit," Boomer claimed, presenting her the box. The raven haired powerpuff girl looked a bit off like she didn't rest too well last night. The blonde boy watched her open the box, delighted to see what was inside.

"Oh wow! My favourite!" Buttercup exclaimed with a smile upon seeing a special brand of chocolate, that had various flavors in the center. She had a weakness for the sweets. She instantly ate one of them, feeling the chocolate coat her tongue with an aftertaste of strawberry. She closed the box so she could save them for later.

"Are you feeling alright?" the rowdyruff inquired, seeing as it was her day off from work. Buttercup had gotten a job in construction to put that super strength to use, and with how often the monsters damaged the town, it was decent pay.

"I was up late, that's all," Buttercup answered before kissing the blonde boy. He enjoyed seeing her happy, though he knew she was putting on some kind of act right now. It wasn't to hide sadness, but she wasn't angry either. She just seemed tired out. Boomer watched her go off to the nearby kitchen to put the chocolate away, before he then noticed that on the table, there were some letters lying there, but it was all just bills. He picked one up, a little annoyed reading it.

"Was it because of another nightmare? Or are you just having money problems?" Boomer didn't shy away from the topic over her tiredness. He heard the refrigerator close. Buttercup sighed, dropping that forced energy.

"Just rent went up. It's under control, I'd tell you if it wasn't," Buttercup stated. Boomer couldn't disagree. There she was, a lot more open with him ever since they both had begun their friends with benefits relationship. If she needed help, she was more than glad to ask for it. The green powerpuff began to notice her close friend turning sheepish with a new topic coming to his mind, the topic that he wanted to get to.

"Erm… Buttercup, can we talk about something more personal?" Boomer requested. Buttercup didn't mind, nodding.

"What's on your mind, Boomy?" she requested for him to continue as she took a seat on the couch, yawning. Boomer came over and sat down beside her.

"You know I care about you, right? And I know you care about me," boomer began so far nothing out of the ordinary so far.

"Yeah, I know. No matter what I can trust and rely on you," the raven haired girl affirmed, though a few years ago that sentence would never go past her lips when it came to a rowdyruff boy. She still sometimes had trouble believing how close they had gotten now as friends with benefits, boomer became more nervous.

"I want to go out to dinner with you," he cut to the point. His blue eyes focused on her green eyes, trying to pick up on any sign of joy and agreement, but she seemed to gain a confused look.

"You know if you want to relax… we can skip the eating part," Buttercup joked, Boomer aware that he had not really gotten his point across. He wanted to keep his focus on the matter as he grabbed her hand gently.

"I love you, Buttercup. Believe me, I love having sex with you a lot, but I want us to do more," Boomer admitted, his heart racing and beating against his chest as he felt a cold sweat across his forehead. He wanted to see her smile again. He wanted to see that joy just burst out of her. But still there was nothing. Buttercup retracted her hand from him.

"Boomer… we agreed that…" she tried to respond, but he cut her off.

"BC! I know what we agreed to that our sex was just to relieve ourselves when we're pent up, but my heart's pent up. Ever since we started doing this each time, I've felt more and more for you," Boomer tried to explain further, until Buttercup stood up.

"I… Boomer, I think you should go home," Buttercup said. Her voice didn't have much emotion to it. He felt his heart stop as he got up off the couch.

"BC… you don't feel anything? You have feelings for animals and other people, but when it comes to a guy you've known since you were a child, the same guy you've slept with, you really feel nothing?" Boomer questioned, hearing her take in a deep breath and exhale.

"Go home. Use your hands next time you're pent up, too," Buttercup responded. Boomer only felt a wave of depression wash over him. He grabbed his scarf and made straight for the door. She didn't even say goodbye, keeping her back turned, hearing the door shut on its own. Once he left, she sniffled.

"I have enough problems to deal with. I don't want you dragged into them too," she said to the empty air. Money was a real issue, as much as she refused to admit it. She did need some way to make extra cash, though that wasn't the only problem annoying her head in. Buttercup went over and grabbed her laptop off the coffee table.

"I need to distract myself…"


	6. Bounty Hunting

Buttercup was miserable. That was the best way to describe it. Her arms were cold and her heart seemed a lot slower, and her mind had not been able to rest since she broke things off with Boomer about two hours ago. The green powerpuff looked out her nearby kitchen window, seeing that snow falling, the windowsill covered in frost. She was browsing online on her laptop, attempting to find some way to make extra money. But she felt so tired that her sleep schedule kept being interrupted by nightmares. Every time she thought back on those dreams, they recalled how people died a lot no matter how much she and her sisters did. Each monster attacked, guaranteed. Some lives to be killed by one topple of it or one crushed building. She felt like a failure because of it.

"What's this?" Buttercup muttered, having stumbled across something while looking through money opportunities. The webpage loaded quickly, appearing to be some police page about wanted criminals. There was another option to click on, which she then read.

"Not advised to hunt," that warning seemed a little weird, but she decided to satisfy her curiosity, clicking on it. Buttercup could see a pictures of a range of robots, people and monsters. This was a website that the police had to advertise bounty hunters. It listed the prices and rewards. Upon clicking the page, her green eyes lit up a little at the thought of putting her super strength to use there. She grabbed her phone.

"I've gotta call Boomer…" Buttercup caught herself, looking at her phone, seeing about five text messages, ones she had read and read over and over. She ignored them all since they were from the blue ruff. She changed her mind and dialled someone else she could rely on.

"Hello?" Bubbles' soft voice answered. Buttercup talked to her sister often though she did occasionally miss the professor a lot. She tried her best to keep focused, despite her minor depression.

"Hi, Bubbles, I wanted to ask for your help," Buttercup explained, hoping she wouldn't have to handle this alone.

"Alright. Is everything okay?" the blue puff asked while getting ready. It was always worrying when her green sister asked for help when she sounded so down, though Bubbles did feel a little guilty she was the only one of the family who knew where Buttercup had gone and why. Buttercup took in a deep breath, processing the question.

"Honestly, Bubbles… no, I'm not okay. Please get here soon," she responded before hanging up. Buttercup glared at the picture on her computer which depicted the face of a robot that looked clunky but blue in colour, the bounty underneath it.

"5000 dollars to whoever can bring this robot's head to us."

This robot, as its description read, was wanted for eight assaults on police officials and three homicides. Buttercup wondered how come the Powerpuff Girls never got called in to deal with these few monsters and robots listed, apparently these bounties were extremely hard to find. Normally they dealt with monsters for free of charge, but obviously she herself was planning to do this for profit much to her own reluctance. Either way, she had to go clean up while awaiting her sister's arrival.

Buttercup did her best to try and clean up, but also mentally prepare herself. She loved having Bubbles around. She just didn't want to worry her sibling so much. She soon heard a knocking at the door, and then went there to open it.

"Bubbles! It's good to see you," Buttercup exclaimed, seeing the all too familiar blonde girl. Bubbles had a bright smile, tackling her sister into a tight hug. She kept in contact with her by phone a lot usually, but keeping things secret from the professor and Blossom made Bubbles feel guilty. The professor felt bad that he had no idea what happened to buttercup. But Blossom was more guilt ridden, blaming herself over fighting too much, thinking that that alone drove her sister away.

"I've missed you too! How's boomer doing?" Bubbles asked, but it was able to strike a nerve. The green puff couldn't be mad. It was an expected query.

"…we're not talking right now," she simply said the truth. Her blue sibling looked saddened at this, aware of what that meant. It was a shame, the two seemed so happy together. She didn't want to press further into what occurred, under the risk of upsetting her green sister.

"Oh. I'm sorry, Buttercup," she apologized, not meaning to come off as so insensitive like that. She took a seat on the couch, while Buttercup grabbed the laptop and brought it over, resting it on the coffee table in front of them.

"You couldn't know, just look at this," Buttercup pointed out the bounty offer for the robot that was labelled "Cobalt". The page describing this robotic murderer had a few pictures on it from dash cams of police cruisers that showed the full body of Cobalt. It looked somewhat big, with a bulky build, looking made entirely out of hard metal. Assumedly the name came from the colour of the robot, which was a cobalt blue.

"Is this what you need help with?" Bubbles quirked, wondering if this robot had caused trouble nearby and they had to deal with it, but according to the webpage, the last time the robot was sighted was a month ago, near a water treatment facility about thirty miles away.

"I'm working my hardest and my rents gone up I need the money. I'll give you half of the bounty, but please, Bubbles I really need help," Buttercup didn't shy away from how serious her money troubles were, looking as if she didn't get the money, she will end up in a bigger problem than before. Her blonde sister nodded, understanding.

"Well… this shouldn't be hard," Bubbles agreed, thinking they both could take one robot on together. In the worst case if things went wrong, the blue powerpuff would call their leader to help, even if her other sister was against it. Buttercup closed the laptop and the two left the apartment, taking off to the sky, leaving light green and blue trails of light behind them as they flew.

Buttercup was lost mostly in her own thought as the snow fell. They were going to hunt a robot that had last been seen a month ago. The trail might be cold, but she didn't care. They weren't going to get anything done by waiting for hours or days for an updated report about where that robot was last seen. Bubbles could notice her black haired sister's distracted mindset. There was something bugging her beyond breaking the friends with benefits deal apart with Boomer. Bubbles thought maybe that and the money troubles might have been too much for her sister to handle. The conversation was silent as they flew.

"Let's hope this is easy."


	7. Breaking point

Boomer felt destroyed, crumbled down to pieces. He felt like an idiot for what he did. He had ruined a great relationship with Buttercup all because he wanted them to be more than friends with benefits. He hated himself immensely for it. He was sitting on a bench in the park, lost in his thoughts, that same scarf covering his mouth and nose acting as his disguise to the few people who were around. Most of the trees had icicles dangling from them now with the leaves holding the heavy weight of the snow on the branches. He felt something cold hit his side, looking down to see a snowball.

"C'mon, Boomer. You're getting the reflexes of a dead cat," he heard, looking to his right. He saw a boy his age in a wheelchair, his left leg in a cast. He had spiky black hair and was wearing a green hooded coat that had black bones on it in random patterns. He was butch the more aggressive of the Rowdyruff Boys, until he ended up being crippled by a bad fight with a monster that had gotten in their way. However his disguise was that very hood he had pulled up over his head.

"Sorry, Butch, I'm still having problems sleeping," Boomer told the same lie he had been giving lately. He couldn't deny that he was emotionally exhausted, practically praying for Buttercup to call his cellphone, but he doubted it would happen.

"What? Do you want us to throw snow at your face to wake you up?" they heard. Brick approached the two. He had about three snowballs in each hand. He threw them in the air beginning to juggle them. He just had a lot of his hair tucked away under his red cap and had it turned around. That amazingly, was enough to fool the townsfolk. The three were outside to try and enjoy the icy weather while they could. Boomer didn't really respond. He wasn't in the mood to be picked on today.

"I just can't wait to get this dumb thing off next week," Butch claimed, wanting that cast off as soon as possible. He hated wearing it and having to be helped around in a wheelchair. It embarrassed him and, of course, Brick teased him occasionally over it. They heard a ringing noise. Brick groaned, letting the snowballs he had been juggling fall to the ground before pulling out his cellphone.

"Talk to me," he answered. It was Mojo Jojo, who was giving basic orders on what he needed which was a lot more than junkyard scrap right now.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Butch asked Boomer. His blue brother laid back on the snow covered bench. He really had a hard time thinking of the answer, and it didn't help that the green ruff was more worried each time.

"I'm not alright, Butch…" the blonde boy honestly answered. That didn't seem to help ease his sibling's nerves. Brick hung up his cellphone.

"Guess who's got work to do?" their leader pointed to Boomer with a grin.

"What? More metal to pick up?" Boomer guessed. He didn't want to do it remotely, especially since Brick had been ignoring his part of the work for quite a long time. The red ruff shook his head.

"No, he needs someone to run down to the docks and pick up a special shipment of materials, and a few other chores. I'll text'em to your phone," Brick explained. He wanted to enjoy the snow more. He picked up one bit of snow to start packing it. Boomer felt something boiling inside him.

"You do it," Boomer said, seeing both of his brothers look at him.

"I don't recall you being the leader," Brick reminded throwing a snowball at him, which hit him in the face. Boomer stood up, getting right in his face.

"You think I care?! You're not worth your weight anyway, you lazy jerk!" Boomer exclaimed. Butch was shocked seeing him like this. The raven haired boy knew where this was going and sighed, grabbing the wheels of his wheelchair and rolling back a little.

"Well I didn't think the idiot had a backbone to him," Brick taunted. He lightly pushed Boomer back, not even acting like his threat was meaningful. Boomer snapped, shoving his leader hard, almost knocking him over into the snow.

"Yeah, and I'm about to break your backbone!" his dark blue eyes looked almost like he had lost his mind. Brick glared back, being quick to say his next insult.

"Back down while you're still ahead, wuss," he ordered. That tore it for Boomer, as he threw a hard punch across the face, nearly knocking his hat off. Brick lost his patience, firing a ray of heat vision, which his brother dodged by ducking. Before Boomer could move, Brick had taken advantage and darted up to him with a red streak of light behind him. He slammed his knee hard into his face, knocking him flat on his back. His nose bleeding, and a new bruise added to his face.

"You're a magnet for punishment," Brick laughed, picking Boomer up and grabbed him by his coat collar. Boomer, however, headbutted him in response. He was furious. Brick stumbled, groaning from the attacks he had endured so far. Boomer's forehead was bleeding, as he tackled the orange haired boy, pushing him into a tree. Some of the snow shook off and fell around them from the leaves.

"I'm sick of listening to you! I'm sick of this constant hate! I've been waiting to do this for a long time!" Boomer said. Brick tried to force him to let go, but Boomer rammed him into the tree one more time, shaking more snow down. The blue ruff had his brother pinned against the tree, his hands wrapped around his throat. The only thing racing through boomers mind was his depression and hate through the last few hours. He tolerated the teasing for years. He didn't have much left, Buttercup breaking up from him had really done a number to his mental status.

"Screw… you," Brick coughed. He tried to punch Boomer, but he blocked it with his forearm. Boomer's grip tightened, crushing Brick's throat. The red ruff was beginning to lose oxygen, and his vision was getting blurry.

"Boomer! That's enough!" Butch shouted. Boomer looked at the green ruff in the wheelchair. He felt almost weak to his command. The reminder of Buttercup didn't help either. Boomer let go at last. Brick fell to the ground, gasping and panting for breath. He got kicked in the side of the head, being knocked over.

"It's your turn to handle the chores," Boomer declared. Brick could only glare back at him. He could have died if the strangling had continued. It was one sick wakeup call, to have his own brother choke him almost unconscious. The two watched Boomer fly away up into the sky, leaving a dark blue trail of light behind him.

"Brick are you okay?!" Butch rushed over, practically pulling himself out of his wheelchair to attempt to help Brick up. They were gaining odd looks from civilians walking by, but they managed to get lucky and be ignored.

"Never better…" Brick sighed, having regained his breath. He fixed his hat to make sure his disguise was alright. He now had a lot of bruises around his neck and some on his face. He looked up to the snowflake filled sky to where their brother had flown into. He helped butch back into his wheelchair.

"I've been waiting for him to quit being a pushover for a while," Brick admitted. He walked behind Butch, grabbing the handles on the back of the wheelchair.

"For a smart sounding plan, you sure look like an idiot," Butch admitted. Brick nodded, aware that trying to get Boomer to become more aggressive through bullying him seemed like it had sunk in deep. Deeper than it should have really.

"I'll make it up to him. Now come on, we got work to do," Brick claimed, beginning to push Butch's wheelchair along. He couldn't just go flying since it hurt his sibling's limb.

"He seemed a lot more than a little upset…"


	8. Cobalt Robot

Buttercup and Bubbles had arrived to the water treatment facility, exactly where that cobalt robot was last seen. The workers there were more than welcoming to see the powerpuffs and answer any questions they had. Sometimes it was nice being known as the town heroes.

"Buttercup, do you really think any of these people can help?" Bubbles spoke up, trying to be nice. She didn't want to upset her sibling, but wanted to help her fix her money problems. The raven haired girl sighed.

"You're right. I just don't like admitting that," Buttercup agreed with her blonde sibling. She needed to think what to do if they couldn't find this robot. She hated planning for the worst. This seemed like such a good option as well. However, she suddenly felt an idea pop into her head.

"Wait! Bubbles, let me ask you something. What are most robots made out of?" the green puff asked as they stepped inside the water treatment facility, that they had been permitted to roam in and talk to the workers. The inside seemed as normal as any other water treatment location. Bubbles thought this over for a second.

"Uh… electronics and metal?" she answered. That seemed to be the right response as she saw Buttercup smile.

"Yeah! Usually the cheap robots aren't able to handle a lot of water. So why would a robot come here? A place full of it?" Buttercup explained. Bubbles was surprised at this revelation, glad her sister didn't tease her over how she didn't pick up on the theory immediately. She wanted to help keep up the idea. If they could figure out why the robot had been there, they might be able to find out where it went after.

"Maybe this robot runs on water?" Bubbles suggested the first thing that came to mind. She had a sheepish appearance on her face. The idea did sound a little ridiculous, but it did seem like the only real plausibility. There was no other reason that she or her sister could think of immediately.

"Hey buddy. Can we ask you what happened the last time you saw the robot?" Buttercup requested from the manager that had been somewhat guiding them around with the occasional introduction to a worker who had been there the same day that the robot had come to the treatment facility.

"Well, it broke in through the wall and pretty much scared everyone off," the manager claimed. The two girls looked to each other. This meant no one really knew what the robot had done and, somehow it had vanished without a trace.

"We're going to take a look around," Bubbles said. The manager didn't seem to have any problems with it. After all those two were the most trustworthy in all of Townsville. The girls in green and blue began to roam around to explore. They only had one thought in their head, which was that the robot was still in here.

"So… Buttercup, you know you're always welcome back home right?" the blonde girl tried to strike up conversation while they looked around for any place a big robot could hide. They only were going off one blind theory. Buttercup gave her a confused glance.

"Bubbles, I love you and the professor… but I can't go back now. That isn't an option," the green powerpuff answered. She loved most of her family, even Blossom to an extent, but she insisted that going to her original home was out of the question. Bubbles could tell there was a secret to this beyond just being sick of being bothered constantly about the lifestyle of a hero. Relaxation wasn't a problem. She could only assume her sister's problem other than money, was related to Boomer in some way.

"Huh… this is odd," Buttercup commented, looking down at one of the many pools of water that were being cleansed. Bubbles peeked her head over the safety railing, seeing nothing out of the ordinary.

"It looks normal to me," Bubbles stated, though making a mental note to drink more water.

"That's the thing. The other pools of water aren't as full as this one," the raven haired girl, explained pointing out the fact that all the pools of water were even, but this one specific one looked overfilled. Bubbles wondered why there was this small discrepancy, wondering if that was normal, but it seemed like that the water would overflow if it was filled more.

"Here, hold this," Buttercup grinned while taking off her sweater, unveiling her black undershirt before handing the sweater over to her sister.

"Wa-wait! Buttercup, you're not actually thinking of…" Bubbles stopped midsentence when she saw her take a deep breath before diving into the pool of water with a small splash. A winter time weather swim alone was horrible, but this was outright dangerous, even if she was able to avoid any dangers in the water.

Buttercup did her best to try and quickly swim through the water, trying to get a quick view. She knew to fly out when she was sure that nothing was weird. The water felt cold, almost like icicles were instantly digging into her skin. Her green eyes darted around, looking for anything odd. So far, everything seemed normal. She couldn't take the cold water anymore. She was about to fly out when she suddenly felt something warp around her body, pinning her arms to her side. She almost lost her breath. Buttercup saw a big metal hand gripping onto her. One glance behind her unveiled the cobalt robot itself, whose glowing yellow eyes focused on her.

Buttercup glared, firing a ray of heat vision and hitting the robot in the face with it, forcing it to let go. She quickly darted out, leaving a green trail of light behind her. She emerged from the water, gasping for breath as she landed on the platform. Bubbles rushed to her side.

"Buttercup! Are you okay?!" she asked, a little panicked, Buttercup coughing.

"I-it's coming!" Buttercup tried to warn. They saw the robot practically explode from the water before them. Its metal face looked partially rusted, its big bulky arms pulling it out from the water. The many workers were screaming and scattering to try and escape. The cobalt painted machine looked ready to fight.

"Get ready!"


	9. Aftermath

The two powerpuffs were glaring at the cobalt robot after they had found it. Buttercup was still dripping wet, the low temperature didn't help the cold feeling ravaging her body. She was hoping this fight would get her blood pumping.

"Try not to destroy the head. I think that'd be good evidence for the cops," Buttercup grinned, Bubbles seeing the machine aim its fist at them. It fired its hand like a giant launcher. They both quickly moved aside, the hand missing them and crashing into the floor. The green powerpuff took the opportunity to lunge at the robot itself, throwing a strong punch and denting the chest of it, sending it stumbling. Its fist began to retract.

"Watch out!" Bubbles shouted, flying over and catching the metal hand before it could hurt her sister. She growled, pulling hard and ripping it off the cables that were attaching it, letting it fall to the ground.

"Thanks, Bubbles," Buttercup thanked her, though the cobalt robot swung its other arm, smacking the raven haired girl away and sending her skidding across the ground.

"Buttercup!" Bubbles got distracted, as she saw the robot raise its only functional arm and drop it down on top of her. She put up her guard, catching it, though she got forced into the ground. It was hard to keep her guard up. This machine was surprisingly tough.

"Get off her!" Buttercup growled as she recovered from the hit she received. She fired her heat vision which hit the robot's head, forcing it to back off. Bubbles was able to get out from its attempted assault. She threw a punch to the left leg of the robot, forcing it onto its knee, having heavily damaged it. Bubbles then jumped up and uppercut its head, sending it flying off and rattling onto the floor. The robot tumbled over, beginning to cease function.

"Whew… great work, Bubbles," Buttercup told her sister while picking up the head of the robot. They needed the evidence to prove they had destroyed it to get the bounty, and what better proof than the head of the machine itself.

"Yeah. That thing was a lot weirder than I expected," Bubbles was glad that they dealt with it easily. The two turned away to begin leaving, however they had barely taken a few steps before Buttercup noticed that the eyes on the cobalt robot's head were still glowing.

"Spooky. I wonder if there is an off switch?" she muttered, unaware that the robot's body was still moving. Bubbles barely noticed it in time before seeing it aim its other hand at them. Sharp blades appeared around it as it fired. Buttercup heard that sound and reacted as quick as her muscles could handle, shoving Bubbles aside. The sound of the head of the robot clattered on the ground before the spiky knuckle crashed into her and sent her through a wall.

"Buttercup!" Bubbles shrieked in terror. She darted at the robot, her light blue streak of light behind her before she threw her own fists into it, ripping open its chest cavity and exposing its internal workings. She fired her heat vision, and spent the next few seconds melting away the insides of the robot fast, making sure this time it will not pull anymore tricks. Afterwards she quickly flew over to her sister to help tend to her.

"Oww…" the green puff was lying there. She had dodged most of the attack, but sadly it had been able to cut into her side. She had three exposed wounds, the blood coming out of it feeling cold to her.

"Come on, Buttercup, stay awake!" Bubbles begged while doing her best to cover the wound. She looked over at the head of the robot, aware that it was important to get the bounty. She grabbed it before she picked Buttercup up into her arms. She was a little heavier than she looked to be. Bubbles flew off, needing to get to the hospital so Buttercup could get treated. The blonde powerpuff felt guilty for not noticing sooner, wondering how the robot was still able to run, even after they had torn its head off.

"I'm an idiot…" Buttercup weakly spoke, aware that she had to stay awake no matter how faint she felt.

"It just had some way to run without its head…" Bubbles explained, trying to forget about the robot head that they were carrying, since it was worth a whole 5000 dollars. They couldn't risk losing the reward money now.

"Bubbles… I have to ask you of a favour when we get to the hospital," Buttercup started. She sounded hesitant, but the fight really had shook her and showed how distracted she was. She couldn't ignore it any longer, whatever was on her mind clearly had her captured emotionally.

"This isn't the time for death bed jokes," Bubbles assured her everything would be fine, gaining a weak laugh from her sister before she groaned. Even laughing made her wounds hurt badly.

"No. I won't let one lucky shot kill me. But I need you to get Boomer," she explained what she needed, her green eyes looking up at her sister's worried baby blue eyes. Bubbles couldn't deny her curiosity on this.

"The hospital's not far. Why do you want me to get him? I thought you two had a falling out…" Bubbles reminded her in question. That seemed to be the primary question. Buttercup took in a deep breath, trying to keep calm.

"I'm trusting you with a lot of secrets lately, and I'm sorry for that. But the reason I was so desperate for a lot of money is, well…" Buttercup's voice trailed off. She was growing hesitant as if her voice fought against her. She was glad she had her sister's support for all her decisions thus far. It was all greatly appreciated.

"I've been late for two weeks, Bubbles," Buttercup claimed.

"Late? …oh gosh, you don't mean…?" Bubbles gasped. Her sister nodded with a weak smile, seeing the hospital in the distance. Just one more minute was needed to get there. Buttercup closed her eyes, trying to relax, though the pain wasn't going to let her sleep.

"Yeah. We both know who the father is, too."


	10. Anger

Buttercup was lying in a hospital bed. She was after getting carried through the doors by her sister, and the doctors didn't waste any time to begin treating her. Buttercup didn't like hospitals. She felt uncomfortable and all the constant noise easily gave her a headache like there was minimal peace.

"I can't believe it! I'm going to be an aunt!" Bubbles squealed. She was so excited to hear that her sister was pregnant. Buttercup was happy, she couldn't deny that. She just felt bad for turning down Boomer's advances all because she didn't want to burden him with her own troubles. She had no idea how this happened, assuming they probably broke their protection.

"Heh, yeah… the professor would have a heart attack," Buttercup grinned, thankful to her blonde sibling for trying to help keep her mind off. She looked at the IV hooked into her arm to give her fluids. She reached over and grabbed the robot head that was lying nearby in a chair, and then handed it over.

"Are you sure you'll be fine on your own?" Bubbles asked, aware that she had been requested to go find Boomer and get the bounty reward along the way. Her black haired sister nodded.

"I'll live. Things feel a little less bothered now that I've got enough money to pay my rent for the next few months," Buttercup assured. Bubbles gave her a tight hug, being quite happy for the news about being two weeks along in her pregnancy. She couldn't imagine how the child would turn out to be. But she was more afraid of how Boomer was going to react.

"Just try and sleep," Bubbles bid her sister goodbye before leaving her hospital room, her hand gripped onto the robot's head. She wondered where to find Boomer exactly, though she knew there could only be a limited selection of areas, and Buttercup had given her a few ideas of where to look as well if needed. The green powerpuff sighed, lying her head on her pillow. She felt drained, that robot fight and the wound on her side really had taken her energy.

Boomer was walking along the sidewalk and to try and calm down. He was lost in his thoughts, and looking at his hands, he wondered why he had not cared about choking Brick. He hated imagining his anger getting the best of him. He sighed, fixing his scarf, still astonished by how easy it was to trick the citizens of Townsville, though as he was walking, he suddenly felt something knock him over hard.

"Ow! Does everyone want me to punch them?!" Boomer wondered aloud. It seemed like so many people were out to try and ruin his day when it was bad enough.

"I-I'm sorry! I was trying to get out while I could," the man apologized while helping the rowdyruff back up. He had come running out of the bank. Boomer was confused about what would cause someone to come fleeing from a bank until the obvious answer came to mind.

"Let me guess. There's a robbery in progress?" Boomer took a guess, the man nodding.

"S-some guys broke in there with guns. I snuck out when they weren't looking," the man explained the already well known. Boomer was too angry to really care at this point, but having an excuse to punch someone into an unconscious pulp sounded really good right now. They heard a gunshot ring out. Boomer just shoved the man aside before beginning to storm his way inside.

"Alright, keep your heads down, and this'll be quick!" one angry person voice chimed out in a group of two. They were all wearing ski masks and coats, each one armed with their own weapon. Everyone was on the floor with their hands on their heads as they were ordered to by their captors. Three of the bank workers were predictably being forced to fill bags with money. Boomer heard a gun cock, looking to his left to see the barrel of a magnum aimed right for his head.

"Y'here to make a deposit?" the third robber said, having been guarding the door in case any cops got any ideas when they arrived. The blue ruffs eyes focused on the nearby wall. He had assumed that the gunshot he had heard was nothing more than warning fire. Sadly, his assumption was wrong. He saw a security guard, a poor man who had tried to stop this and had been assaulted for it. The guard lay there, lifeless, his blood pooled around him.

"C'mon, ya idiot. You know the drill. Hands and knees," the robber claimed. Sadly, robberies were a common occurrence in Townsville. Boomer began to do as told, going down onto one knee. The robber didn't seem to have a care in the world. His eyes were adverted, and right on cue, the blonde boy took the opportunity, firing his heat vision and melting the gun quickly.

"What the heck?!" the burglar cringed, dropping the ruined fire arm, just before he was punched hard in the jaw from behind, getting knocked flat on his back. Boomer stomped on his chest, he swore he heard the sounds of ribs cracking. The other two burglars turned to see this.

"What's the big idea here?!" another robber armed with a shotgun growled.

"Just stopping you guys from giving me a headache," Boomer said. Another one of the security guards seemed to take advantage of their distractions, grabbing his handgun and firing. He succeeded in shooting one of the robbers in the side, making him fall over and drop his weapon. Boomer flew the other robber, a dark blue streak of light shining behind him. He rammed into him at full force, forcing him against the wall.

"Tell me something," Boomer started talking to the robber, he was trying to grab his gun that had dropped onto the nearby floor. The blue ruff kicked it away before he pressed his foot against the man's head.

"Which one of you did that?" Boomer demanded, pointing to the dead security guard. A lot of the civilians who cowered were beginning to get back up, glad things had been saved thanks to the boy in the scarf.

"Wh-what?!" the robber screamed in pain. That was not a good answer. He was kicked in the side of the head. He was on the floor for only half a second before being picked back up by his arm.

"Which… one of you… killed him!?" Boomer repeated. The robber looked terrified, given the bruises he had over his face.

"I-it was Vincent! The guy pulled the trigger with no warning," the robber answered, pointing to his wounded comrade who had been shot by the security officer. Boomer glared, shaking his head. He didn't believe it since the dead man didn't have a huge gaping wound in his body, it wasn't a shotguns doing. Just one bullet hole was visible in his shirt.

"Let's see how many teeth I can knock out in one punch," Boomer grinned. He was terrifying this man to no end. The ruff punched him hard in the face, giving him a black eye in one easy blow. He barely landed on the floor before being kicked in the stomach. Boomer grabbed the robber by the legs before throwing him towards the bullet proof glass. The robber plopped back down to the floor.

"P-please, no more! I-I'm sorry!" the robber coughed. Boomer stomped on his kneecap, breaking his leg. The man screamed in agony.

"No matter how much pain you feel, it'll never amount to what that man felt. But I'm going to make sure you get real close," the blue rowdyruff said with minimal care. He was sick of the robbers. He had heard Buttercup tell him all the time how the hotline would never stop ringing because of the occasional band of fools, thinking they could get away with crimes all the time. The torture didn't stop here for the robber though. It only got worse. Boomer put his foot on his arm, pinning him there. He used his heat vision, beginning to burn the robber's hand with it. His screams got louder and louder, each passing second.

"Boomer! That's enough!" he suddenly heard, looking over at the entrance. Bubbles was standing there, having heard the commotion during her hunt for the blue ruff. Boomer looked around, all of the civilians he had helped were now scared of him more.

"You had it coming," Boomer simply claimed, getting off the robber, leaving him on the ground to wallow in his own agony.

"We need to talk…" Bubbles claimed while leading him out, not wanting him to be here when the police arrived, assuming that the security officers left could handle the crippled robbers.

"Thanks...For stopping me."


	11. Truth

Boomer was being guided along by Bubbles. The blonde girl was very thankful to have found him, though she didn't expect to walk in on him stopping a robbery. It was odd, but she assumed he was not having a good day.

"I'm sorry to bother you randomly," Bubbles apologized, trying to begin the conversation. He had no idea where she was even leading him or why he was following along with minimal care. Maybe he just liked having a distraction.

"Better you than my brothers," Boomer huffed. It was cold enough that he could see his breath. He put his hands in his pockets. She grew more concerned at this, though hoped that talking about the powerpuff he had strong feelings for would make it better.

"I didn't come searching for you for nothing. I came to tell you that Buttercup is in the hospital. She wants you to come see her," Bubbles explained to the best of her ability. His attention was gained greatly, the concern look in his dark blue eyes caught her off guard.

"What happened to BC? Did she get hurt?" Boomer questioned, scared for her health at this moment. Bubbles insisted for him to calm down.

"We were hunting down a monster and it cut her side. She's fine, but she really wants to see you," Bubbles reassured everything was fine, but she didn't want to be the one to break the news that Buttercup was pregnant. She didn't know if he would be happy or upset with that news.

"…Thank you, Bubbles, for everything," Boomer hugged her. She had been so kind to him for the last few months ever since she learnt about the friends with benefits deal that her sister and he had going on ever since Buttercup secretly moved out. Bubbles had been supportive of both of them, because of that he owed a lot to her. She smiled, glad he was happy.

"Come on, we're not that far," Bubbles claimed. The hospital wasn't more than a mile away. She had been walking with him for a long time. They made their way there, Boomer not caring why Buttercup wanted to see him. He was just glad she wanted to talk with him again after a good while. He felt like the world had been taken off his chest. The blue powerpuff thought the two of them were perfect together, but there still was one thing to be unveiled. The two just headed straight for the hospital.

Buttercup was lying in her hospital bed, not able to fully get to sleep. She was tired, but her brain refused to stop thinking. She groaned, rolling over, seeing one of the many nurses on shift.

"Can you get me something to help me sleep?" Buttercup requested reluctantly. She hated relying on drugs to help her do anything, but that was from where she disliked medicine in general. The doctors and nurses on staff were quite nice. After all, she was a powerpuff girl, so that might have a hand in that.

"Sure. I'll be right back," the nurse nodded before leaving the room to get the medicine as requested. The green powerpuff looked over at the one of many pictures hanging in the room that were in mostly every hospital room, which were paintings of nature or the mountains. She assumed they were here to balance out the bland white colour of the walls.

"Buttercup!" she suddenly heard, seeing Boomer enter the room. She smiled, glad to see him once more, Bubbles being right behind him.

"Hey there, Boomy," Buttercup greeted him. He felt nothing but joy to hear her call him that.

"Thank goodness you're alright. Bubbles told me you really needed to see me," Boomer explained, putting his hand on hers. She happily wrapped her fingers around his hand.

"Here, Buttercup. It's your half from the bounty reward," Bubbles claimed, showing wad of hundred dollar bills that was about 2,500 dollars all together. Buttercup took it with a grin, feeling even better right now.

"…can you give us some privacy for a second?" the raven haired girl requested. Her sister nodded, understanding. She left the room, sliding the glass door closed behind her. The green powerpuff felt nothing but tenser in this very next moment.

"I feel like a jerk right now," Buttercup chuckled, looking at the boy she considered more than just a friend with benefits. She wanted to try and get everything back to normal. He felt her lips press against his, which he happily returned for the brief moment. He wished the affection would last forever, but then they broke apart.

"I broke the rules of our agreement. You had every right to be mad," Boomer apologized. She sighed, aware that she had to tell him the truth. She didn't want to go raising his hopes and bring him into something if he didn't want to be involved with the child.

"Boomer, I care about you a lot. I wanted you to go because I thought you'd be better off without dealing with all my problems," Buttercup explained. He was worried seeing that tired and hesitant look in her green eyes. She did her best to put on a brave and courageous face, but whatever she was trying to tell him, it clearly bothered her a lot.

"I'm pregnant, Boomer. I found out a week ago," Buttercup forced out, fighting against her vocal cords to speak. Boomer felt his heart skip a beat. His brain processed what she said. She desperately waited for some response, as each passing second felt like an hour.

"I'm sorry. I should have told you the minute I found out," she tried to apologize, feeling upset, imagining him being angry at her over this.

"I just want things to go back to normal…" she sniffled, looking away from him. She wanted to go back to normal where things were fine, and whenever she felt angered, she could just call him over for a fun time. Boomer gripped her hand tight in his, seeing her tear swelled eyes.

"Buttercup, we can't go back to that. I don't want to go back to that. I want us to go forward and have meaning between one another, more than just sex," Boomer explained. He was happy with the news. He was going to be a father. It gave him mixed feelings, but he appeared mostly joyful over it.

"Y-you're not mad?" Buttercup asked, amazed, seeing him put a hand on her stomach.

"I've spent the last day being mad. I'm sick of feeling that way," the blue ruff said. This child signified that it was impossible to go back to normal. They had done too much together, so they had to move forward.

"We'll be there for each other," he added, right before he was pulled into a tight hug. He swore that she almost broke his neck. Boomer didn't want to imagine how she would be if she ever had mood swings. He already made mental notes for what to do to carefully dodge those troubles.

"I love you!" Buttercup exclaimed. Those words felt like music to his ears, and more importantly his heart. Boomer thought it was time to lighten up the situation now as he looked her over.

"So what are you going to name her?" he wondered if she had thought of any names, but she felt like it was far too early to consider it.

"What makes you think it won't be a boy?" Buttercup quirked with a raised eyebrow.

"I dunno. It just feels like a girl," Boomer laughed, before getting playfully punched in the arm.

"It's only two weeks old! I'm sure it's going to be a boy," she responded, enjoying the moment, though they saw Bubbles enter back into the room. She looked glad to see the scene before her, of the two's repaired relationship.

"Hey, Bubbles. What do you think? Do you think the baby will be a boy or girl?" the blonde boy requested her opinion on this. He was personally hoping for a girl while Buttercup was hoping for a boy. He saw his blue counterpart tilt her head.

"What if you have twins?" Bubbles giggled. Boomer seemed to be happy at the answer, though Buttercup gulped. She already imagined that raising one baby was already going to be a handful. She could never see herself able to handle a set of twins.

"Please don't joke about that."


	12. Settling

It had been two months since Boomer and Buttercup had gotten back together, and the two couldn't be any happier. They had been doing their best to relax while preparing for the baby. The blue rowdyruff had been quite brutal when it came to moving out. He didn't tell his brothers anything. When his father was busy and the other rowdyruffs were gone, the blonde boy packed his bags, and left only a note on the wall which explained his real life needing his attention, and his will to grow up fast and get away from all the anger and hatred. Ever since then, he had been better than ever.

"Jeez, they all look kind of dumb," Buttercup commented while sitting at her living room desk, her lover alongside her, both looking at the computer screen. She had started to gain some weight and her stomach was already getting biger in size. The two had continued their bounty hunting career together and it had been a lot better now. The apartment was well furnished, and she had a decent sized television, which sadly didn't have much good on to display for them anyway.

"Well, we agreed to try and hunt dumber ones," Boomer chuckled, standing beside her. He was nothing but happy. Every time he saw her he couldn't help but get a smile. A real relationship was nice to have after all. He had been supportive each step of the way in her pregnancy, and so far it was going fine. The two of them were looking at the police website and the page displaying the wanted targets. They had agreed to no longer hunt the big valuable targets, and just hunt for about two to three small targets a month instead, for the sake of keeping the Buttercup and the baby safe.

"How about this?" Buttercup's eyes focused on one odd picture. It seemed to just depict someone with damaged skin with some item added onto the neck. The police report went on to describe that this was a man who had committed a huge spree of arsons in small parts of Townsville. He was wanted for about 1000 dollars. Boomer was worried over the fact that this person looked so weird. Every person on this dangerous bounty reward list were quite dangerous no matter what threat level they were at.

"Maybe we should hunt a monster this time?" Boomer recommended. He didn't feel like chasing down a fire bug, especially considering the last time this fire starter was seen was fifteen years ago, that was too cold a trail to follow. One look at the monsters, and Buttercup saw the perfect one to track. The picture showed a monster that had oddly formed features. Its arms and legs seemed poorly together like it was malnourished. The only notable thing was its strong teeth.

"Well it is worth 2000. Last seen about a month ago in a welding factory," the green powerpuff read. It seemed relatively easy from what they could gather. It was just some lab experiment gone horribly wrong and escaped. She got up from the chair and shut down the computer.

"Let's go!" Buttercup smirked. Boomer however became worried when she got like this.

"BC, maybe you should relax more. I don't want you to get hurt again," the blue ruff expressed his worries, but it seemed to fall on deaf ears. In fact, that seemed to only annoy her.

"I'm going to help you get this money as long as I can. While I can, anyway," Buttercup said, not expecting to be of much use by six months in the pregnancy. She hated the thought of sitting around doing nothing. Boomer sighed, aware that it was probably rude to implore her not to do any work.

"I know, BC. I'm just starting to get too worried, I guess," the blue ruff apologized, wanting to go get to hunting for the monster. Once outside, before they left, Buttercup kissed his cheek, finding it nice to at least know how much he cares for her. He smiled as they both flew off, leaving a dark blue and green streak of light behind them.

Meanwhile, at the home of the Rowdyruffs, Brick and Butch were arriving back, both carrying a couple of bags of money in each hand.

"I'm kind of glad it went smoothly," Butch said, glad to be out of his cast as he dropped his sacks of cash. They had just robbed a bank, and they had done it quite cleanly. They melted the security footage to make sure no one called the cops on them. They had both made it out with a ton of cash to boot, but it was about their eighth successful crime that left a bored feeling on them.

"Yeah, yeah. 'Cept now I got no idea what we can do," Brick threw his two bags of money aside boredly. They didn't need money, as the town never tried to mess with them remotely. It wasn't a secret that they lived with their father either. Ever since Boomer left, the orange haired boy fell in a state of depression. That one fight they had a while back made him blame himself. It almost felt like his brother's hands were still firmly wrapped around his neck.

"Could go play some games?" Butch suggested. His red brother sighed, getting up.

"Boring. I wanna go punch something," Brick responded. Butch tried to think on that. They couldn't go randomly punching civilians, since it led to nothing done for them beyond calling the powerpuff girls and bringing up a fight, and being beaten wasn't going to be fun. They actually hadn't fought with the powerpuffs in quite some time due to their excellent performance in robberies.

"I know! Let's go beat up monsters," Butch grinned, seeing the rowdyruff leader give him a look, questioning the seriousness of that idea.

"What are you, a wuss now? Why would we bother to beat a monster up?" Brick reluctantly inquired what gave his brother the idea.

"Well, they usually put up a mean fight, and it's not like anyone's gonna get mad at us for killing a monster," Butch shrugged and explained. When he talked like that, it sounded actually like a rather good plan. Brick just knew it wouldn't be easy to find one. He sighed, standing up.

"Fine. Let's go."


	13. Bored Heroes

Buttercup and Boomer had been searching to the best of their ability, though this time around they had found a good set of clues to help track down the monster in the factory. The green powerpuff was in a storage area, looking over a destroyed set of welding tools that had ravenous looking bite marks. She had to admit that ever since they had started bounty hunting, it had been very fun and satisfying though, she had to wonder if it made her evil to find it very fun to hunt something down through a trail of some sorts.

"Hey, BC! I got something you're gonna love to see!" Boomer's voice rung out. She raised an eyebrow, wondering if he had found something good. She approached to one of the many lines where the workers usually operated, and she saw the monster sitting there, looking like it had given up.

"Jeez, what'd you do to it, Boomer?" Buttercup asked, wondering how he found it, though the malnourished creature looked even weaker now, like it was barely alive. She noticed those metal teeth that were so intimidating in the picture. They were stuck together, but not broken.

"It tried to eat one of the workers. The guy took a blow torch to its face," Boomer smirked at his green lover. It was a little awkward to have a monster that was so weak it couldn't fight back, but because it was a menace to the world anyway, it was a good thing they caught it alive. Maybe the people who created it could do something to help it, or at least put it down instead of letting it die slowly of starvation.

"Talk about good luck," Buttercup said, picking the weak creature up. It looked miserable, somehow that pulled at her heart strings hard. Imagining the beast starving to death and how it must have been painful.

"Can you turn it in? I gotta go handle something," Boomer requested. His girlfriend gave him a confused look. It wasn't like the monster was a threat remotely, but she had to wonder if he was starting to get lazy. She sighed, deciding it to be best to cut him some slack.

"Alright, Boomer. I'll meet you at home," Buttercup said half-heartedly. He hated keeping secrets from her, but this time it was for the best. The blue ruff kissed her, flashing a smile before they split up, having caught the monster with minimal effort.

In another part of Townsville, however, there stood an oversized lizard, a dragon as described, stomping around the streets, smashing buildings and scaring the citizens. Nothing unusual thus far in the day. However, there were some people there who were just watching from a nearby rooftop.

"I'm still amazed you talked me into this," Brick said to his green brother. He was more amazed at how much he agreed with the idea, even if it wasn't verbally expressed, but it mentally made all the sense in the world.

"Well, you were bored and wanted something to punch, and I found us something to punch. So let's go punch it!" Butch grinned, jumping off the side of the roof. Brick groaned before leaping over the side to follow. The oversized lizard was eating a car. The scraping and straining of the metal chunks in its teeth grinded their ears.

"I'll start!" Butch exclaimed, punching his fists into the sidewalk and ripping out a huge slab of it before throwing it at the monster, hitting the side of its head with it, the whole slab exploding into pieces. The monster roared in anger. For some reason, hearing that mighty sound made them feel giddy inside as if they were quickly growing more excited for the fight. The scaled monster took in a deep breath, and unleashed a wave of fire.

"I did not expect that," Brick said both of them, darting out of the way, seeing the flames engulf the streets. They could hear various people scream which did nothing but damage their ear drums. Civilians that were in safety were more interested in recording the notorious bad people in town practically being heroes.

"Do something to shut them up!" Brick ordered. Butch agreed, having to do something to help put out the fires. He saw a few fire hydrants that were along the sidewalks. He focused before firing a ray of heat vision, concentrating on cutting as many of the fire hydrants in half as he could. Thankfully he did, and almost in seconds the tops exploded off into geysers of water which sprayed down onto the flames. It was their best hope to suppress the fire for now. The red ruff darted at the monster, ramming into its head and throwing the strongest punch he could, sending it flying backwards down the road and sliding across damaging its side as it slid across the asphalt.

"Dang… that thing's got thick skin," Brick groaned. His hand actually hurt from that punch. Butch rolled his eyes.

"Then go for something weaker!" he exclaimed, grabbing one of the street lamps from the sidewalk, using his heat vision to cut off the end of it into a sharp tip. He flew at the giant lizard who he watched getting back up. Though the walking dragon was able to roar, it didn't get a chance to react before being stabbed in the eye by the poor makeshift spear that Butch had made. Blood spurt out onto him, the monster falling onto its stomach, having now been slain by them.

"Nice work," Brick grinned, high fiving Butch. That was really satisfying. They could hear the sounds of people cheering for them. That was something they weren't used to, despite the green ruff being covered in a small amount of blood as well. However, they heard an all too familiar voice ring out that did nothing but take away the fun they were having beating up monsters.

"What are you two doing?"


	14. Planning

Brick and Butch had just finished killing a monster out of their own boredom when that all too familiar voice had caught their attention. They saw boomer standing nearby with a smile. He was half happy to see his brothers, but half nervous as well.

"Boomer!" Butch tackled him, glad to see his brother once again. Brick approached calmly, glad there weren't any cops trying to do anything to them, probably because of the boredom induced heroism, not that the civilians were aware of that.

"Where have ya been?" Brick asked. They hadn't seen him in months ever since their fight. Ever since then the red ruff had been blaming himself. He was feeling great inside, to see his brother again. And was trying his best to hide it.

"Living my life, it's getting settled. …I need your help with something," Boomer explained why he was there. Butch was confused by this, recalling that note that exclaimed so much how he had to go lead his real life, and being a ruff wasn't a part of it entirely.

"Yeah… sorry about the… uh, fight. Y'know…" Brick tried to apologize. It took Boomer a moment to recall it, his memory being fuzzy since he had tried his best to forget the choking incident.

"Oh… I don't care about that now. I made sure that was my last day of letting my anger get out of control," the blonde boy reassured, he had little care for what the triplets had fought about. He saw the regretful look in his former leader's eyes. It had clearly emotionally left its mark and his forgiveness had done little to heal it.

"We'd be glad to help. But can you tell us what's going on?" Butch requested that they at least be informed of the blue ruff's supposed real life he had focused on. He put on a smile.

"I… yeah. I'll tell you guys. How about over dinner tonight, at the floral diner?" Boomer suggested, his green brother looking to their leader. Brick shrugged, a real meal sounded better than just the first thing they could find out of the pantry.

"Sounds good. Now what is it you needed our help with?" the orange haired boy asked, seeing that glimmer in Boomer's eyes. He never saw him this lively or excited before. Clearly it was important, but at the same time it made him nervous imagining it.

"I need help picking out, a-an engagement ring," Boomer said. Brick and Butch looked at one another, taking a moment to process what they heard.

"Did you say an engagement ring? …oh, wow," the raven haired ruff could only say in awe. Brick rubbed his head, assuming this was another topic for the dinner tonight to discuss.

"Well good, I'm amazed you had the backbone to ask a girl out, let alone propose to one," their leader joked. Boomer actually laughed, not offended like he would be beforehand. He seemed a lot different now. Either he had been hiding his true self all along, or all that he had done since they last saw each other had changed him.

"C'mon. I know a good jewellery store we can rob…" Butch got cut off mid-sentence.

"Sorry. I'm kind of well-paid now, Butch, and I'd like to shop while the town thinks you guys are heroes for the next few hours," Boomer retorted. All of that bounty hunting, and saving his own money had left him a good amount to be able to buy an engagement ring for Buttercup.

"…well, I guess it'll be fun to walk around covered in blood," Butch muttered. Brick patted him on the back. They could just try and restrain themselves from criminal activity for now. The green ruff thought he could at least get a few good odd looks, while he was drenched in monster blood. The three rowdyruffs left the area to help their brother.

Buttercup had arrived back to her apartment, closing the door behind her. This was one of the first times she ever felt guilty about turning in a bounty. They captured some defenseless monster, having turned it over to the police. They informed her of the likely fate of the beast which would be euthanasia. She rubbed her sore head.

"Only two months along, and this kid's already messing with my mood," the raven haired girl said, looking at her own stomach. She wondered where Boomer went. She rested his half of the reward money on the nearby counter, just before she heard her cellphone ringing.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Hi, Buttercup! How are you?" Bubbles soft voice chimed. The raven haired girl was happy to hear from her blonde sibling. It was always nice to talk to her when things were calm. She could talk for hours with her sister if she wanted to.

"Fine. We caught a monster for a bounty. How are you holding up?" Buttercup responded, lying down on her couch and letting her head rest on the armrest.

"Great! I just wanted to ask if you and Boomer wanted to come out for dinner tonight. I wanted to go to the floral diner, and I thought you two might want to come," Bubbles explained. Buttercup gazed her eyes up, looking at the clock. It was a couple of minutes after 6pm, and it had been a while since she and her boyfriend got out at all. Then again, they had been spending all their quality time either hunting bounties or relaxing.

"That'd be nice. We could use some great food for a change," Buttercup chuckled, rubbing her stomach. She had been eating for two, unfortunately neither her or her boyfriend were good cooks. The floral diner was notorious for being a nice place to eat out, having a wide variety of a food menu.

"Great! Meet up with me at seven! Oh, and dress nice!" Bubbles excitedly said before hanging up. Buttercup wondered why her sister was in such a rush to hang up like that. It was rude for Bubbles all things considered. She brushed it off, assuming she was busy.

"Dress nice? Ugh…" Buttercup got up. Her wardrobe was limited but she had a good idea what to wear. She could call Boomer and let him know the invitation they got later, doubting he cared about her accepting it without talking to him.

Meanwhile at the Utonium household, Bubbles was heading downstairs from her room, having put her phone away. When she got down to the living room, she had a bright smile on her face, seeing the professor who was sitting on the couch reading a newspaper, and Blossom who was nearby watching television. The powerpuff leader seemed to be in a mixed mood right now, one of the days where she had gone deeper in her own thoughts. Boomer had called his blue counterpart earlier in the morning, in an attempt to get her to help him set up some way for both families to meet up and get everything out in the open.

"Start getting ready, or we're going to be late."


	15. Dinner meeting part 1

Bubbles waited nervously outside the restaurant, the floral diner. The entrance seemed a little packed tonight. She was wearing one of her nicer outfits saved for special occasions, and it had a more frilly trim at the bottom of the dress. She was hoping everything tonight would be fine.

"Sorry for the wait," Buttercup's voiced chimed. Bubbles smiled, turning around to greet her sister, though her focus was drawn on what the green powerpuff was wearing. She was wearing a light green suit, looking more dressed up for a business meeting than anything, and clearly it had not been worn in a long time.

"Uh… I said dress nice, but I didn't mean like that," Bubbles stated. She was happy that her sibling dressed nice to begin with, but it was just an odd attire. The raven haired girl rolled her eyes, brushing the comment aside with minimal care.

"It's the nicest thing I had to wear, and everything else is starting to feel like it isn't fitting as well" she responded. Not even three months into her pregnancy and she was already not happy with the weight gain, thinking she needed to go shopping inevitably for new clothes, and if there was one thing Buttercup hated, it was indeed clothes shopping.

"You look good in it," Bubbles tried to apologize. Buttercup smiled and assured all was fine. She was happy to just spend some time with her blonde sister, but she hoped Boomer would get there soon, since she had texted him to inform him where to meet up. Both of the powerpuff girls entered into the floral diner. The inside looked very nice, with a red carpet lining the floor each table being nicely decorated. There were a lot of people in there that night, though Buttercup's attention was drawn to the table they were supposed to sit at. It was big for its size, and there she saw her father and Blossom sitting there.

"Buttercup?" Professor Utonium said, awestruck at seeing his daughter who had moved out months ago, even though they didn't know about all she had been through and her current situation.

"P-professor, what are you…" Buttercup got cut off mid-sentence when he got up and hugged her. It felt like it had been years longer than just months. Buttercup felt happy to see him, but didn't want to inquire what Bubbles was doing with this. Clearly it was a setup on her part to reunite the family, or so the black haired girl assumed.

"Where have you been?" Blossom asked one of probably the dozen questions she wanted to bring up tonight, as they all took their seats around the table, though it felt too big for them alone.

"I… moved into an apartment so I could get some peace," Buttercup claimed. She was going to do one thing specifically tonight, and that was not to start a fight, though she didn't want to imagine what will happen when her boyfriend showed up.

"I'm sorry for causing so much trouble at home," Blossom apologized immediately. All those weeks, and she had been feeling guilty for the heavy amount of fighting between the two before she moved out.

"It wasn't your fault, Blossom. I just wanted to go spend at least one night without the hotline waking me up," Buttercup said, trying to assure it wasn't her fault, though Blossom had inadvertently given her the idea to move out.

"And for a job, I've been bounty hunting people, monsters, robots. Whatever's worth catching alive or dead," the raven haired girl explained what she had been doing for work, gaining the look she expected from their orange haired leader that she clearly disagreed with the thought of that.

"It's good that you have a career at least, Buttercup," the professor stated, for some reason not surprised by this, though that might be because Buttercup was a little unpredictable in terms of what she planned do, or that he may be so overjoyed with seeing her again that anything she said could make him happy. Buttercup smiled, glad to gain his support.

"And thank you Bubbles for setting this up," the professor added. The blonde girl blushed a little at the praise. It was obvious she had set it up, though it was easy to tell since it would be a massive coincidence if the green puff would be in the same restaurant as them at the same time. Blossom felt annoyed that the blue powerpuff kept their sister's location so secret. She wondered if she had been too tough on them in the past.

"I'm starting med school in a few weeks. I'm happy to see you again," Blossom hummed, having been accepted to one of the best medical schools in Townsville. Buttercup was happy her sister could get what she had been working so hard for. She loved being able to help people, so trying to become a doctor had been set as her goal a few years ago.

"There is a lot I have to tell you guys" Buttercup sighed, thinking getting everything in the open would be or at least doing it slowly.

"I have a boyfriend, and he's been living with me for a while. He's supposed to be coming tonight, too," she exclaimed. That was the first surprise that occurred to most of her family aside from Bubbles who was hiding her face behind her menu.

"Err… congratulations, I think," the professor said, not sure how to feel on this. Bubbles let them continue talking, glad her family was back together and happy.

"So who is it?" Blossom requested to know. Buttercup bit her lip, a little nervous about revealing. Just then, they heard one of the other people here to eat spoke out from nearby.

"Hey, it's the town's new heroes!" he said. That statement drew their attention when they saw who had just entered the restaurant. It was Boomer, Brick and Butch, all of who dressed nicely, clearly against their own will, but only having done it for the sake of their Boomer requesting it.

"The Rowdyruff boys?!" Blossom stood up, angry. Her eyes already glowed as she was ready to fight, not expecting anything less.

"B-Blossom, calm down!" Bubbles tried to stop her, seeing the three boys approach their table. The professor saw Buttercup's nervous grin.

"M-meet my boyfriend… Boomer."


	16. Dinner meeting part 2

Blossom and the professor were just a little overwhelmed by the identity of Buttercup's boyfriend. His brothers' presence didn't make things any less tense, and the people seeing them as heroes made it too confusing. The boys took their seats, Boomer sitting beside his girlfriend while his siblings took seats across from them at the big table.

"You sure this restaurant doesn't have a haunted theme going for it? They look like a ghost just popped up in their face," Brick asked.

"It shouldn't have a theme like that, don't worry," Boomer replied that the floral diner was a calm regular restaurant. He had a safe assumption on what was so shocking. Butch was more interested in looking over the menu already.

"Sorry I'm late. I had to go get them," Boomer smiled, Buttercup nervously waiting for a response from her family members. Bubbles was hiding behind her menu since Blossom calmed down.

"Honey… how did you two get together?" the professor tried to talk, but his mind was having a little trouble focusing. He was feeling uncomfortable having known enemies of his own children sitting right alongside him.

"I'll make it simple. I beat his brothers up, then I beat him up. I was having a bad day, and he was being so great to me…" Buttercup explained. It was just a 'one thing led to another' type of deal. She was not sure if she should mention the friends with benefits affair that they formerly had though.

"If it makes you feel any better, I only pretended to fight against the girls after we got together," Boomer stated. That did explain a lot to his brothers. They had been worried a lot, Noticing every fight they had, he had become a lot weaker, though the information didn't seem to do much to settle the professor.

"So… why are people calling you guys heroes?" Blossom requested. She was going to be angry if there was some really long setup behind this. The ruff leader leaned back in his chair, shrugging.

"We got bored and beat up a monster. I'm sure they'll go back to calling us evil next time we're bored," Brick claimed that the hero title was just something they got from trying to cure their own boredom. Heroes or not, Blossom wasn't taking her eyes off them for any odd behaviour.

"Maybe they'll let us eat for free," Butch grinned, wanting to take advantage of the hero tagline as long as he could. He had no idea what the perks of being a hero were, and clearly he was lacking in humility. Bubbles saw the waiter approaching them.

"Let's just try and enjoy tonight, alright?" the blonde girl requested. No one refused, all have already decided on what to order in an attempt to try and enjoy dinner. Buttercup was more deciding whether or not to announce the news that she was pregnant. Her boyfriend and Bubbles could easily tell what she was thinking, as if the stress already wasn't high enough. Butch and Brick were relaxed, trying to lighten the mood by sharing stories. They were here to support Boomer no matter what.

The dinner went rather smoothly, the food was great and the tension had eased off. Brick was talking with all eyes on him.

"And because of that 'accident', dad now stores his helmets in a safe," he finished the story, hearing everyone's laughter, Boomer being embarrassed at the reminder of the story at what occurred when he was around twelve years old. His brothers had never forgot anything if they could tease him with it, though Brick was not anywhere near as mean about the teasing now.

"'Least the food was great…" Butch yawned and stretched, full from the steak he had. It was a little scary watching how fast he ate it. Brick agreed with his green brother after the salad he had eaten up.

"Uh… me and Boomer have one last thing we need to tell you all," Buttercup said, thinking this was the best time now that the tension was lowered. She felt her boyfriend's hand on her leg, rubbing her, reassuring her to continue.

"We've been together for a long time… and, well… a few months ago, I became pregnant," Buttercup forced that sentence out. She felt nothing but nervousness. Despite the blue puff and her boyfriend's assured looks, it brought the tension right back.

"R-really? …I think that's great," Blossom said. She really didn't know what to think. Part of her disagreed, but another part of her was more joyful than Bubbles had been when she first heard the news.

"Whoa… I'm going to be an uncle!" Brick exclaimed happily. The news seemed great to him, though they didn't have much intentions to let Mojo Jojo know.

"What are you going to name him?" Butch asked. Like his green counterpart, he was hoping it to be a boy, though they didn't know yet.

"Hey, how do you know it won't be a girl?" Blossom joked. Bubbles couldn't help but feel déjà vu from this conversation.

"I dunno. I just got a feeling it'll be a boy," the spiky black haired boy retorted.

"What if they have twins?" Brick added to the conversation. Buttercup hated thinking about that, and she hated having the same nightmare inducing conversation twice.

"Please! Do not joke about that!" Buttercup begged, Boomer doing his best to suppress his laughter. Professor Utonium, on the other hand, didn't look all that glad with the news. He couldn't help but wonder if this was the main reason why she moved out secretly. He had too many thoughts in his head right now. He was soon to be a grandfather, and how much it had advanced in such a short time.

"Blossom, Bubbles, I'll see you at home," the professor said while getting up, wanting to leave while he could. Buttercup felt hurt by that action, as she quickly left the table to follow her father out, leaving the others alone. Once outside, she grabbed him by his hand, stopping him.

"Professor! What's wrong? You were so happy to hear I had a life… and now you're not happy that our family is getting better?" the raven haired girl wanted to know what was going on. He saw how upset she looked.

"I'm not upset that our family is getting bigger. I'm just disappointed by how long you kept everything secret. You acted like you didn't even want to be a part of this family," Professor Utonium explained. He saw the heartbreak in her eyes.

"I'll always love you, Buttercup, and I'll always support your decisions. But I just can't be happy with all of them," he added before beginning to walk the opposite direction, away from the floral diner. Buttercup's heart sunk to her stomach. She had tears in her eyes. He wasn't wrong, back then she did want to be away from them, but she just wanted to be away from their problems. All the fighting with Blossom, the constant hotline ringing, she just wanted to get away from it. But she didn't think how badly it would hurt him. Her thought process had changed a lot over the months. She looked down before she flew off into the sky, leaving a green streak of light behind her.

"Why can't anything be simple…?"


	17. Missing

Boomer arrived back home to their apartment. He was looking drained. The clock ticked on, showing that it was two in the morning right now. He had spent the last few hours looking for his girlfriend, but found no sign of her. He plopped down onto his couch, depressed to a degree. He pulled his cellphone out to look it over for any calls or texts. All the texts were from his brothers and the other powerpuffs who had tried to help him look for Buttercup after she vanished abruptly, but then, perhaps on cue, it began ringing in his hand.

"Hello?" the blonde boy answered.

"Yo, Boomer," Brick chimed for the time of night. He didn't sound tired in the slightest. Boomer never understood how the ruff leader was able to get by with minimal energy loss.

"Please tell me you have good news," Boomer begged, feeling like someone had his heart on pins and needles. He could only gather that Buttercup left after she and the professor had a minor confrontation, according to the front door man who worked at the restaurant.

"Sorry, bro. Me and Butch looked all over with Blossom and Bubbles. But, there was one good thing that came out of it," the red ruff stated. The blue ruff was appreciative of the families' efforts. Now that they were beginning to get along, things seemed a lot better.

"What? Did you find a clue?"

"No. I got Bubbles phone number though," Brick laughed, trying to lighten the situation. Boomer was mentally wondering how he did that but tried to ignore that topic.

"Thanks for trying to help. Sorry for keeping you guys up late," the blonde rowdyruff apologized to his leader. Brick didn't sound like he had a care in the world right now, seeming really calm, but that was how he usually was. He was handy in emotional situations.

"Any excuse to stay away from dad is welcome. Me and Butch are gonna turn in for the night. Blossom and Bubbles are gonna keep searching, but maybe she just needs some space for now. We'll go looking more tomorrow if she doesn't come home," Brick explained. They could only hope that Buttercup needed time to think to herself. Boomer felt a little disappointed in himself, pulling a small black box out of his pocket.

"Yeah… I'll see you guys later," Boomer hung up, resting his phone aside. He set the box on the coffee table. Inside of it was the engagement ring. He had planned to propose to his girlfriend after dessert, but bad luck put another damper on his plans.

"Don't go doing anything bad, BC…" he mentally said. He hated feeling worthless, but the situation was out of his control. He hoped she would be fine, but he was afraid of the many circumstances possible. What would happen if she got hurt out there by a monster, or if it was too cold for her to tolerate, or there was another accident. He pulled himself off the couch, heading for their bedroom, hoping that Buttercup was just at a friend's for now.

Buttercup was standing in some underground area, in front of a tall robot that had an odd design to it, looking like it was painted red but it had a lot of burn injuries on it. The robot had one big hand that looked like an odd pincer. Its other arm was missing entirely like it had been ripped up.

"You'll make three," Buttercup commented, glaring at the machine that stomped toward her. It attempted to swing at her, but she caught its pincer arm before blasting its head with a ray of heat vision, watching its head spark violently when being pierced by the attack. The mechanical menace tumbled over in defeat. The raven haired girl went over and grabbed the damaged head of it and ripped it off with minimal effort. She had been spending the last few hours doing bounty hunting. The first things that came up on the list, she had hunted, but was not getting any pleasure from. It felt emptier than she thought.

"I guess I should turn these in…" Buttercup muttered to herself. She had been mostly hunting robots since she knew they were easy for her to destroy. She had the other two heads tied together by the very wires that were torn and damaged she began to walk away to get out of this underground area she didn't want to go home she felt miserable. The professor still loved her, but he didn't like that she seemed to want to be un-involved with the family.

Buttercup groaned, climbing out of the entrance she had used, seeing the shining stars above her in the night. She yawned, beginning to head to the police station, wanting to turn in the proof of the robots' destruction. The walk didn't make much difference to her mood. She was lost in her own thoughts, happy that the night seemed to go well otherwise. Everything went fine but the professor.

"Wow, Ms Utonium. Another three high targets?" a police officer said in a little awe while behind his desk, looking at the three robot heads lined before him. He was happy, but also creeped out, having already rewarded the green puff the money.

"Well, robots are easy to hunt…" Buttercup bluntly said. She barely had the money pocketed and turned around, before she saw the door open at the entrance. Blossom was standing before her.

"Buttercup! Thank goodness you're alright," Blossom sighed in relief.

"H-how'd you find me?" Buttercup asked, pondering how her sister found out, oblivious that practically everyone had been searching for the green puff.

"Well, you tend to beat things up when you're upset. Bounty hunting gives a good excuse for it," Blossom stated the obvious theory behind her actions and how she found her.

"Fine… what do you want?" she requested her sister get to the point. Blossom put a hand on her shoulder, beginning to escort her outside.

"I want to talk."


End file.
